Escape Route
by NerdyGirl873
Summary: I woke up in darkness. Not only do I lack memory of how I got there but I lack any memory of who I am. I remember eleven names, mine isn't one of them. After a near death experience and a message telling me to trust no one I can only become more confused. Who tried to kill me? Why do I get the feeling that there's no escape from this city? T for language and later. Possible Amuto.
1. Chapter 1

**I have too many stories going right now but who cares? I love writing! So here's a horror Shugo Chara story! I don't own Shugo Chara or the characters.**

**Amu's P.O.V.**

I coughed as I took in a deep breath. My eyes opened... where was I? When I allowed my eyes to adjust I was able to make out the room I was in. It had a low ceiling. If I tried to stand up I'd only get into a crouching position before my head tapped the top. I could crawl out. So that's what I did.

Getting on my hands an knees I felt through the dimly lit shadows. A few times my hand brushed through something wet and sticky, but as I moved forward the wet puddles would disappear lost in my trail. Then my fingers brushed a wall in front of me, sliding my legs under me so I was sitting on them I pushed one shoulder against the wall holding all my weight against it. The wooden boards broke and I fell forward into a sunlight world.

My breath caught as I stared down at the ground, seventeen stories below. Though the ledge I was leaning on was two feet across, thankfully, my shove had sent me forward so that everything above my shoulders was hanging off the ledge.

Swallowing I back pedaled panting. Slowly I looked over the ledge once more. I had to find a way down. But no one was around to call for help from. I looked at the surroundings. A large city expanded in front of me. But there was no sound. No beeping of cars, no voices, no movement of any kind. In fact it appeared to have been abandoned for years. Vines were sprouting from cracks in the cement. They had curved their way up buildings. Grass appeared from cracks that had broken the roads and sidewalks.

Where was I? Better yet, who was I?

Shutting my eyes I tried to remember anything that had happened. Anything that could help me.

_"I don't want to die! I just want to get away from here! Anyone, help me!" _

Red flashed in my vision. That was it. I didn't remember my own name, but other names flashed into my mind. _'Ikuto, Rima, Tadase, Nagihiko, Kairi, Yaya, Utau, Kukai, Sayaa, Hikaru, Ami.'_

Find the people, figure out what was going on. Keep it together, just keep it together.

Crouching I slowly moved towards the ledge. Once I was able to stand I swung so my toes brushed the wall. Slowly I edged along one side. Hands on each side my arms extended, feeling for any windows or dips in the wall that could help me find a way to get away from the death's edge that could kill me with one misstep. Then I felt it. Smooth and cool, with what little I remembered I still oddly remembered sensation and perception of different objects.

Moving my hand up and down I found a small edge with as much strength as I had in one arm I pushed upwards. It barely moved. Swallowing I moved closer to my new found window. Trying not to look over my shoulder I put the palm of my hands under the ledge and again tried, this time successfully to pull up the window. Only I didn't realize that I'd misjudged where my arms should be placed. They had been too close to my chest, gasping as I tipped backwards I clawed from something, anything my hands could grip. There was no way to mask the relief when I managed to grab the bottom of the window in both hands.

Taking a deep breath I pulled myself forward hugging the window as though my life depended on it. I ran my hand along it's surface, when I reached the side I followed it down a short way, then I felt the bottom.

Gripping that I moved one leg into whatever room the window led to before ducking my head in then the rest of my body followed. I lowered myself onto the floor a foot below.

An empty room. How _astonishing._ (Sarcasm is implied). With the way the city looked a slightly dust covered room was nothing new. If anything it caused me to wonder when any human had ever inhabited the town.

The emptiness made me uneasy none the less.

Moving slowly I made my way out of the room my feet hitting the ground in noisy smacks. It creaked under me. The door to the hallway had been left open and it surprised me to come across a single object at the end of it. A white sheet hung on one side. But it reflected everything, almost like another world within. A mirror.

I creeped to it; tossing aside the sheet.

Pink, my hair was pink. Not faded, but bright pink. The color of cotton candy. I touched it. Soft. It fell just past my shoulders in thin layers. Bangs held back by a blood red 'X'. Two honey eyes stared at me with pale skin and pink lips. I wore a white loose blouse and khaki capris. Completely unwanted, the dust had already begun to cover the outfit. At least I was wearing tennis shoes. Even if they were a pair of perfectly white converse. What was I, some sort of white out marker? Why would I dress in such a stupid way?

First, find better clothing.

Just as I was about to turn away I noticed small lettering at the bottom of the mirror. In confusion I squinted bending down to read it.

It read:

**_'KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL, TRUST NO ONE. _**

**_BLOOD SOAKS THESE WALLS, YOU MUST'_**

Must... what?I reread it. Kill... who? Why do I have to kill people? Trust no one?

Shaking my head I turned away. I froze. Someone stood in a black hoody at the end of the hall. Okay, great.

"Hey! Can you help me! I don't remember anything! Where are we?" I moved towards them. "Any idea how we got here? Where is everyone?" I was three feet in front of them when my body told me to stop moving. Not to go further anymore. This person was too silent.

I'm amazed my body moved when it did, as soon as I saw the glint of a blade my body bent backwards a slash barely missing my chest. They stabbed and I twisted to the side kicking on instinct knocking their hand against the wall opposite of me. The blade fell and I ran not bothering to look back as I rushed to a door, any door. It was only my luck I found one that led to a stairway. Adrenaline pushed me forward further then a normal body was meant to go. I ran not hearing the footsteps of my attacker over my heartbeat. I didn't even know if they had chased me down every step and into the lobby of an apartment complex.

I didn't care though. If there was any chance that they were I didn't want to take the chance that they'd catch me.

My breath was running out, my sides heaved. _'KILL THEM ALL, TRUST NO ONE.' _Was that the people the writing had meant?

I took a chance looking over my shoulder, then I slowed, no one was there. That made me more frightened then if they had been there. I was alone on the street in the middle of an abandoned city. Other attackers could be hiding anywhere. It was midday. The sun blared down on me. Sweat dripped down my back plastering my shirt to me.

Only stopping long enough to catch my breath I once more headed on my way. In a steady jog this time. I had to find some place that I could stay until I figured out was going on. Some sort of nightmare maybe? An elaborate prank? No the person who had attacked me was aiming to kill. The knife had clinked like metal when it hit the floor.

Someone was trying to kill me.

_"I don't want to die!"_

_'KILL THEM ALL,'_

What was going on? Who was that hooded person? What had they wanted?

I sped up my pace running at the same pace I had when I'd been chased. No building looked safe enough to trust. All of them had multiple floors. Too many windows.

_"I don't want to die!"_

"I'm going crazy." I panted rounding a corner. Only more cracked pavement and plant life awaited. Trees had started sprouting on this road. Pine trees in some cases. Almost all of the road was gone replaced by grass and flowers. I stopped. The trees could hide people. Slowly I began to back away. Not safe down that ally either.

A crossroads. Back the way I came, I shouldn't back trace unless I need to. Forward in the direction I had been going in, but where would that get me? It looked similar to the path I'd taken. A left from the original path, possibly, that looked best. Less wildlife, no trees. With a nod I ran. My legs had begun to shake. They'd give out soon. Obviously I wasn't supposed to run that much. My adrenaline had worn off minutes back. My body dragged with exhaustion. Eyes blinked away sweat that had dripped down towards them. I didn't know how many miles I'd moved away from the complex. Hopefully far enough so as not to be followed, but no one would ever know.

I spun facing the way I'd come walking backwards before stopping. My chest rose and fell with effort. Water, I needed water.

That's when something slammed into me. I fell over skidding on the ground with the force. My head smacked the ground a few times, then it slid along the cement. A sting ran along the arm I'd skidded on. My right leg and arm would have to be looked at but first.

"What do you want?! Are you back to try to kill me again?!" I glared over my shoulder at the person who'd rammed into me.

"What... *huff huff*... are you...*huff*... talking about?" A deep voice panted.

I turned over, my arm and leg stinging. Checking them I hissed, blood dripped from the places my skin had been ripped away. I lifted my hand to my head. Wet. Great, my right half looked like a rainstorm and my left like an ocean.

"Wonderful." I turned to see who had caused me the pain, a dark haired male with midnight eyes stared at me intently. On a normal day someone might wonder why the person was staring like an idiot. However, I got the feeling that we were thinking the same thing.

_'I know you.' _Not that either of us knew how, that much was obvious when his face switched to confusion at the same time as mine. But a name flashed.

"Ikuto?" I squinted. I knew him. How did I know him? _'Ikuto, __Rima, Tadase, Nagihiko, Kairi, Yaya, Utau, Kukai, Sayaa, Hikaru, Ami.'_ "You're Ikuto."

"A...Amu." He reached out grabbing my right wrist. "You went skidding along the road."

"Yeah when you hit me." I paused staring at him once more. "Amu... that sounds like my name... how did you know it?"

"That would be the same as asking you how you knew my name." Ikuto responded twisting my arm gently in his large hands. As I stared at him I noticed he wore only black. the opposite of what I wore. Coincidental? Sure, I don't believe in coincidence though. "We need to find something to clean you up with." His hand reached for my head moving some hair that was probably blocking my head injury. "You're cheeks scrapped."

"Why aren't you hurt?" I asked a bit annoyed.

"I stumbled but landed on my hands and knees when I fell. You shouldn't even be hurt this bad in the first place though. I didn't hit you nearly hard enough to send you sliding."

"Clearly you did or I wouldn't be like this." Muttering back I got to my feet. I walked a few steps. It stung but I'd live. So apparently even with all this blood it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. "We better get moving."

"You were attacked."

"What?"

"You asked me if was trying to kill me?"

"Oh, yeah." I flexed my hands. "When I woke up here I was in an apartment complex on one of the top floors. Someone was there too. They tried to kill me. I was running. Oddly they didn't chase me."

"Somebody held me at gunpoint." Ikuto said. "Any idea what's going on?"

"I found a message engraved it said..."

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"What did the message say."

I swallowed, trust no one? If I really wasn't supposed to trust anyone then that meant not to trust Ikuto. But... to kill... I was positive that if Ikuto had meant to kill me he would have already. I could at least tell him what the message said, right?

"What did the message say, Amu?"

"It said 'Kill them, kill them all, trust no one. Blood soaks these walls, you must.'"

"Must what?" Ikuto started moving and I moved with him.

"That was it." I looked at the ground. "I think... whoever... whoever was writing it was killed before they could finish." Then I thought for a moment. "How did you get out?"

"Get out?"

"You said you were held at gun point. If that's the case how did you make it out?"

"I was in a shop. Two story, I jumped out the window and ducked into an ally and ran. Made a few turns. They didn't chase me."

"The others." I blinked remembering. "You remember the names too, right? Including you and I 'Ikuto, Rima, Tadase, Nagihiko, Kairi, Yaya, Utau, Kukai, Sayaa, Hikaru, Ami, Amu. Those are the names that we know. If the others are here too, we need to find them. Maybe they're in danger."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're kind of in a city right now. It would probably take days to find them. There are twelve of us. I've been moving around all day, hours. You're the first person I've come across. This place is empty. There are two options. We can find a way out in the next few days and hope those two don't show up, or any of their buddys. Or we can look for ten people who may, or may not, be alive and possibly figure out what's going on, maybe getting out of this city alive."

"Either way we might die." I shrugged. "With those maniacs running loose who knows what will happen."

"That's why we should focus on getting out of here." Ikuto looked at me. What he said made sense. But I got the feeling that he was wrong. Not only about the others possibly being dead, but also about escaping.

"Ikuto, what if we can't escape."

"Don't be stupid. It's a city, not a jail. There're entry and exit points, we just need to find them."

Overconfidence would be his downfall. I could see it already. He's too sure of himself. Not such a bad thing but if he's wrong... it would be a bad thing.

Resigning I gave in. "Fine, I'll shut up about finding people as our primary objective, but don't stop me if we run into one of them while we're searching for a way out."

"Fine." Ikuto glanced at me. "We should find some bandages first, and some water."

"Water sounds nice." I nodded my throat feeling extremely dry.

We thought it was that easy. So much would change in so little time. That was only the beginning of day one. We spent fifteen days in that city, nobody was ready for what was to come.

**So that's the first chapter, A special thanks to my sister for helping me with this idea. We sat brainstorming about horror things and this popped up in the wazoo of our combined awesomeness. **

**She's Reads to much12 if you wanted to check out her stories. She does Fairy Tail and Shugo Chara. **

**That's all for now! Hope you guys enjoyed and review if you want more! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! I just was having trouble figuring out how to word it! Please enjoy!**

The city was hot and dry during the day. If the day had made it seem erie the night only added to it. Darkness changed everything, and with the darkenss came cold. I rubbed my arms trying to create friction, only with my hunger and thin clothing, my body could do little to heat up. Ikuto and I searched for shelter, one with food and/or water. We also needed something to use to clean my wounds. They wouldn't clean themselves, and risking infection was a bad idea.

Basic information on survival was all I seemed to remember other then the names. Not that I was complaining. I needed all the instinct I could get.

Don't get any ideas, I didn't trust Ikuto. After that near death experience I had to be cautious. But I got the feeling I'd be more likely to live if I were with him then if I were alone, if he turned out to be evil it would be easier to know where he was by staying close. Not to mention the fact that he we were both interested in finding water and a place to stay the night. If I ran off, I'd lose him in this giant city. That would be far more dangerous.

Plus I was injured, not badly, but I wouldn't be able to move quickly. There was also a painful tap in my skull that didn't seem to go away.

The only thing he and I had in common was that we knew the same list of names. _'Trust no one.' _I was starting to think that listening to that warning was my best bet.

My stomach felt like a bottomless pit, I couldn't remember my last meal. Had I ever had a meal?

"We'll stop here." Ikuto motioned to an abandoned auto repair shop. "Not ideal but the inside is open space, it'll be easier to move."

I simply nodded letting him take the lead, I wouldn't show him my back not when I was still this unsure about him.

He pushed up one of the garage doors leading in, the gap was wide enough for us to crawl under. The entrance was vacant of any car. Boxes of tools lined the walls. It was almost as if someone could've been there, but they'd long since gone away.

The middle was completely empty, if you stood on one side of the garage you could view the whole place easily. Nothing to obscure vision. No places for anyone to hide.

The door creaked as he pulled it back down. With all that noise, it was doubtful that anyone would be able to sneak up on us. They'd have to go through the door connecting to the garage that led into the waiting area.

"Wait here." Ikuto told me heading towards the extra door. I didn't like the idea of him leaving without me, not when he was a potential threat. If he vanished into the darkness he would be that much deadlier.

"What if one of them shows up here?" I asked trying not to let my mistrust show through.

He turned to look at me before walking over the the boxes of tools. He opened several drawers before taking out a monkey rench and a screw driver. He handed me the screw driver looking me right in the eyes. "Get them before they get you."

Taking what he was giving me I kept my eyes steady with his. I saw a flash of question in them, he was studying me. Waiting for my reaction. He didn't trust me either. He was taking a chance in leaving me on my own, especially with a weapon. If this kept up, one of us would end up dead.

One thing was certain, even if that was the case we wouldn't kill each other tonight.

"Hurry back." I muttered as he walked away.

I moved to a bare part of the wall, sliding down into a sitting position with my knees bent facing the ceiling. The building was becoming pitch black as the sun disappeared. Soon I wouldn't be able to see my hands in front of my eyes.

Leaning my head on my knees I looked out one of the windows that had been placed on the garage doors. I could partially see the sky.

Black.

No stars. No moon, as darkness fell, the world turned completely black.

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself. The throbbing in my skull continued, almost as if someone was knocking for me to let them in. The hungry pit in my stomach didn't help any.

"Found a bathroom, there's no food here." Ikuto walked over to me, monkey rench stuck between his arm and side, he carried some toilet paper (surprisingly there was still some) and a dirty plastic water bottle with some water in it, and from the bubbles I was guess there was soap too.

"Where'd you get the bottle?" I asked eyeing it with narrowed vision.

"Found it on the ground." He replied. "Trash was everywhere in there." He took some of the thin toilet paper dumping some of the water onto it. He motioned for my arm and I held it out allowing him to wipe some of the dried blood from it.

It stung but it wasn't nearly as painful as scraping the ground had been.

"There was also blood all over the floor." He added casually as he continued to clean.

"From what?" I asked, feeling more alert then I'd been before. I wouldn't be able to sleep yet.

"No clue. There was a message written with it." Ikuto shook his head. "It didn't make sense. Not that I expected it to."

"What did it say?" I asked as he moved to clean the blood from my head.

"_Again and again and again._" He said.

Getting my head cleaned hurt more then my arm, but I tried to ignore the pain. I had to think. Two seperate messages. What did they mean? What was up with those speeches that I remembered. Why did I have a list of names memorized? What did they have to do with me? And how did Ikuto come into play?

"You don't trust me." Ikuto said. "I don't trust you." I heard a rustle dropped some of the toilet paper that he'd used to clean my wound. By now it was far too dark to see anything. "For some reason I remembered your name though. You remembered my name."

"Yeah." I nodded rubbing my arms as the cold began to grip me once more.

"I could kill you, you could kill me."

"Yeah." I said this time with confusion in my tone.

"But if we want to survive this place, I'm guessing we need to work together."

I stared at my hands that gripped my knees. Should I listen to him? What if he planned to backstab me? Should I betray him first?

My gut gave me an answer.

"I agree." I murmured. "We don't trust each other, but I keep getting the feeling that I'll be safer with you then I would be on my own." My eyes searched the dark for any movement. I only heard his voice. "We should travel together and try to find the others, maybe get some answers. Worse case scenario, one of us kills the other. Either that or the one's who attacked us will."

"Doesn't look like we have much to lose." Ikuto sighed.

"We don't." The reality hit me with that confession. We had nothing to lose. We had nothing. Not even our memories. Only distrust.

I hugged my arms trying to warm up.

Sudden warmth on one side caused me to jump. Ikuto sat beside me, no words left his mouth for a moment.

"We'll look for food and clothes in the morning." He told me.

"Okay." I nodded trying to find the outline of the door through the darkness. Lack of vision worried me. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"When you were getting the screw driver and the wrench, you opened more then one drawer before finally pulling something out. Was there something wrong with the stuff in the drawers before?"

"There was nothing in them." Ikuto responded. "They'd been cleaned out. I'm guessing we weren't the first ones here." I felt his arm move away then press against mine once more.

"I don't know what's more terrifying." I whispered. "Not knowing if we're alone, or knowing that we aren't."

Neither of us slept that night.

**So I'm sorry again for the wait. I'm going to be updating this monthly (school started back up) and I think it'll be around thirty chapters long. Sorry this chapter was short! And sorry for the different feel to it, I had a different mood when writing this chapter.**

**StarElsie: Hello dear! I remember you reviewing on some of my other stories! And in answer to your question, this is supposed to be a horror story so fearing for the characters lives means I'm succeeding. I'll explain what's going on as the story pans out. It will only be in Amu's P.O.V. though. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed!**

**Special thanks to those who followed/favorited: magicalbelievers and Kalima Idina. Thanks to the readers as well. **

**Next update is:**

**September 13. Hope to see you then!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Time for chapter three! I hope you guys enjoy!**

We were on the edge of our toes as we moved. Starving, tired, and paranoid. Every noise made me jump, it would cause both of us to turn to the sound and hold up our make shift weapons as though they'd defend us against anything. We'd been searching for food since we started walking that day. Hunger was making us weary. Lack of sleep wasn't helping.

No animal's had appeared in our way. All of the shops that could've had food were abandoned. And most likely it would be a bad idea to take food from them seeing how it would be rotten most likely.

Only a few days of abandonment wouldn't explain the state of the city. It had to have been years leading into decades since this city was last inhabited.

The daylight exposed all the things the night shrouded. Blood. Various places had blood splatters. Some were barely the size of my fingertips, others were larger then me. However they were dried. They'd melded into the ground leaving permanent stains on the earth.

We walked what seemed like ages before we found anything.

That anything, was another message.

"Stop and go. You'll never know. Follow the pain. Two slain." Ikuto read aloud as we crouched over the message that had been scratched into the earth. We'd taken a turn down one of the allies and it was just our luck that the message was waiting to be found.

"Why are they always talking in riddles?" I asked not expecting an answer. "Do they enjoy watching us scratch our brains or something?"

"Kill the, kill them all, trust no one. Blood soaks these walls, you must... then we have this one." Ikuto sighed. He turned to me. "Let's keep moving. Maybe we'll come across another message. Another clue to help us get out this city."

"Right." I nodded. In unison we stood up and headed on our way. We were still keeping each other at arms length. I was keeping my eye on him, and I knew he was doing the same to me. But we at least trusted each other enough to travel towards the same destination.

Plus since both of us were deprived of various things I doubted we'd even have the stamina to kill the other.

"So we're looking for like twenty things right?" I asked. "The others, food, water, messages, an escape route, a safe place-"

"I don't think there'll be a safe place in this city." Ikuto replied. "Not with those things tracking us down."

I ducked my head. "Right."

"And I'm almost hoping we don't find the others." He continued.

Okay, we had various names in our brain and Ikuto didn't want to find any of them. "Why not?"

"How do we know the others weren't the ones that attacked us?" He asked. "For all I know the others could be watching us this very moment. Waiting for our sanity to slowly slip away."

Mentally, I slapped myself for not realizing that sooner. "So what, next place we stay we take turns on watch. I doubt that either of us will be able to trust the other to keep watch while we sleep."

"It would've been easier for me to let you die instead of trying to help you clean your wounds and heal up. Just remember that." He looked back at me narrowing his eyes.

Swallowing, I nodded jerkily.

We made our way down various twists and turns. Staying off the streets might not have been the safest action but it's what we did to try to avoid the trigger happy maniacs that were after our heads. Ikuto was right. They could've been any one of the names on the list. What was safer though; knowing where they were through meeting up with them, or keeping our distance from them? What would lead to our survival?

"I think our main focus right now though is food." He tilted his head back so he could look around. Slowly his cranium moved as if searching for something. "I think the only things we'll be able to find that would be remotely edible are animals or plants. We should try and find both."

"Then what?" I asked following his gaze that had halted.

"Get to the roof of that building." Ikuto gestured to an office workplace. It would've been sleek and sheen if the city were still functioning. Now it had broken windows and a grimy look to it. Vines were slowly wrapping around the base and growing into the third and fourth levels.

"Vantage point." Murmuring I looked down at the screw driver I held in my hand. It was hardly what I would call a suitable hunting weapon. That was another thing we needed. And wood for cooking any animals if we caught them and trying to stay warm. "Clothes." I said. "We need to find something for warmth as well. If we're planning to bunker down somewhere again I don't want to risk either of us getting sick when we have nothing to use as medication."

Basic survival. What I remembered.

"Hunting first. And neither of us is going anywhere without the other."

"Yeah, that much I know." I replied with a mutter. "I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me." He replied glancing at his wrench. Probably thinking the same thing as I had moments before. "Okay, weapons first."

XxX

We spent two hours searching for something we could make into weapons. Eventually we ended up only finding a pipe that had fallen off of a water system over the years, a two feet long stick, and a bloodied mallet that I was almost afraid to know the origin of.

"Well this is perfect." Ikuto grunted running his hand through his messy dark hair.

"It's better then nothing." I countered. "I think I'll be able to distinguish edible plants from poisonous ones so that's what I'll be on the look out for while you try and track some animals or whatever. Plus the idea of offing anything isn't very appealing to me."

"Fine." Ikuto said. "Just don't get in my way."

"Oh I won't." I rolled my eyes turning to look around. "So are we going to start heading out and looking or should we wait longer while you glare at our meager supply of weapons?"

"Don't test me strawberry." He warned. "I'm in a foul mood and not exactly in the right state of mind."

"Hunger and sleep deprivation are catching up to both of us. I get it." Leaning down I lifted the rusted pipe. "I'll be using this. Hunting with it would be stupid and forgive me if I don't exactly feel safe with only a screwdriver for protection." Swinging it like a bat as I held it tight in my grip I tried to put as much power into each blow as I could. It wasn't a lot in case that wasn't already obvious. "And after what you just told me I'm less then willing to leave my life in your hands."

Ikuto gathered the rest of the weapons walking towards the building we'd returned to after our expedition. He tossed the extras through the door holding onto the wrench and the stick.

"Let's go." We crept slowly staying on alert for two things. Others, and food.

After about ten minutes of searching I ducked off to the side inspecting a small cluster of plants. Ikuto raised an eyebrow at me before returning to searching for any animal. Facing my back to him I crouched low. As I reached for one something flashed into my vision.

_"What happened?" _

_"Leave it alone! Don't touch her!"_

An image of someone writhing on the ground foaming from the mouth hit my eyes.

"Poisonous." I whispered jerking my hand away. Okay, clearly that wasn't one of the plants we'd be taking with us. I rocked back onto my heels looking at the leaves of each plant checking for any difference in their appearance. Sighing without any luck I straightened turning. Only Ikuto wasn't there. Freezing I pulled the pipe to my chest. I kept my lips tightly pressed together. Raising the rusted metal I stood in a fighting stance. Was he betraying me? Had someone got to him? Was he dead? Injured? Fine and alive? Had he wandered off? What about sticking together because of the dangers that could come with splitting up?

I stepped ever so carefully forward. Then I took another step forward, keeping my back to the wall of the building as I moved in a crab walk.

My head jerked from side to side along with the upper half of my body as I tried to keep protection on both sides.

"I-Ikuto?" I hissed.

"What?" My breath halted and I leapt nearly smacking him over the head as he materialized next to me. I would have hit him right in the temple if it hadn't blocked with the wrench causing a resounding clang. "Idiot." He shoved my pipe to the side glaring at me.

"It's your fault for appearing out of nowhere!" I snapped back. "You just disappeared on me."

He held up a small crow he'd some how managed to get his hands on. "It's almost entirely skin and bones but it has some meet on it. Plants?"

"How did you catch that?" I asked tilting my head and jabbing the bird with my pipe.

"I have my ways." He replied. "Plants?"

"Poisonous." I replied.

"How could you tell?"

"I... had a vision." No reason to lie to him now.

"Another vision? What happened in it?"

"I guess that someone tried to eat those. Someone died because of it apparently."

"Perfect." Ikuto muttered. "Let's keep moving."

Of course we found basically nothing for the rest of the day except two mice. And I did get lucky enough to find some dandelions. An appealing meal? No. But it was more then we'd had that morning or the day before.

On our way back to the office building we went down an alternate street. Rounding in the hopes of finding anything more to eat. What we found might have been just a bit better.

"A... thrift store?" Both of us looked to each other in complete disbelief. How? How had we missed this before? How had we come across a thrift store at all? Though those questions were kind of drowned out by our immediate reaction. Which was to head right for and and grab what we needed.

There wasn't a lot left in it. Maybe six shirts, five sets of pants, three jackets, and one single blanket.

"Do you get the feeling this is a little too coincidental?" I asked as I pulled off the bloodied clothes I'd been stuck in, changing into a loose fitting t-shirt and over-sized jeans. After finding the sweet stash we'd headed for the nearest dressing rooms to slip them on.

"We'll have to deal with it later then." Ikuto answered. "Just be happy we found them at all."

Opening the rotting door I stepped out. The pants were barely staying on my waist, there weren't any belts unfortunately. But my choices were to either continue looking like the walking dead or to change into a fresh outfit. And it honestly wasn't hard to decide which I preferred.

Ikuto exited his dressing room moments later and I crossed my arms. Of course we found clothes that were his size. A pair jeans that were maybe one size too big and a tang top that was just right.

"Lucky you."

"Time to head back."

"I thought that's what we were doing."

"Don't start an argument. I'm not in the mood." Ikuto held up his hand before gathering the blanket we'd used to carry the rest of the clothes and dandelions. "You're carrying this."

"Fine." I snatched it from him lifting my pipe. "We need water."

"We'll find it when we can." He stated grabbing his catches and weapons. "We still need firewood anyway."

"The suns already starting to set." We left the thrift store and I looked to the sky. "I don't know about you but I don't think that we should light a fire right now. Though now that I think about it, water would need to be boiled to purify it."

"We'd need a pot for that."

"I know."

In silence we walked towards the office building. Both of us were still keeping our eyes peeled. Me for water. Him for twigs or anything else that could be used. Nothing, and by the time we got back to the building I don't think either of us cared enough. We'd just eat the dandelions and get some sleep.

At least that was our plan.

However ten seconds after we stepped through the door Ikuto fell to the ground after something wrapped around his leg and I heard a crack of his head hitting the floor. He didn't move. Something wrapped around my own throat causing me to choke.

"What the hell are you doing in here and who are you?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke the arrival of a potential threat.

**So I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Can you guess who it is? Probably but I like to delusion myself into thinking I'm spontaneous! Anyway reviewers: **

**Guest: I'm so happy you like it that much! And knowing that I can put people on edge lets me know I'm doing a good job! This chapter didn't have so much of a frightening feel though and I'm sorry for that! Knowing that you'd buy it makes me happy to hear! I'll definitely check out the novel when I can! Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed! **

**qwinyne101: Hello qwinyne-chan! It's nice to hear from you once more! I'm happy to hear you like the story! This story is seperate from the Shugo Chara universe! Same characters and I'll try to stick to their personalities but it won't have transformations or memories from the original series! And in the looking category I'm afraid you'll have to keep reading to find that out! I'll explain everything! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reviewing!**

**Hannah L-Sama: Glad to hear you're interested! I'm happy to hear you have a theory about what's happening though I can't answer too much about it without giving things away I'm afraid! Thank you for the kind compliments you're giving me! A writer is always happy to hear the audience is feeling the emotions they're trying to create! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reviewing!**

**Special thanks to those who followed/favorited: qwinyne101 and Hannah L-Sama. Thanks to the readers as well! **

**So anyway thank you guys for the positive reviews! It lets me know that you're enjoying it! **

**The next update will be on October 13! And if I get the urge I may do an update on Halloween! But that is only a maybe!**


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